Disclaimer: It's not mine.
A/N: Has anyone seen Rachel Tucker as Elphie yet? I saw her last week and she amazed me with No Good Deed! Thought I'd just mention it.
"There's no pretence here. I happen to be genuinely self absorbed and deeply shallow."
However she felt about him, one thing was for certain. Fiyero Tiggular was an enigma. He was rude. He was uncouth. He thought he looked good in those tight white pants. He was right. He was quick witted. He was brave. He lied to himself to preserve a reputation that Elphaba thought no man ought to be proud of.
It baffled her.
Currently, he was ignoring her. It was no mean feat considering their proximity. He didn't even tap his pencil to provoke a reaction anymore. He didn't ask her where they were and appeared to keep up and take his own notes for once. Despite herself, Elphaba hoped his illness was not fatal.
"I know you're ignoring me."
He sighed and raised his eyebrows. It was a gesture that he had learned from her. "Why would you think that?"
"You haven't spoken to me, you haven't pestered me and you turn around in corridors not to bump into me. Don't deny it, I saw you. Why would you be going to Philosophy? You can't even spell it."
Fiyero sighed, exasperated. He seemed to be doing a lot of that. "What do you want me to do?"
Her eyes blazed. "I want you to tell me the truth."
He averted his eyes and stared down at their shared desk. "The truth is that…that I don't know." He broke off and tapped his fingers against the desk, clenching his jaw. "I don't know what came over me."
Elphaba bit her lip. He had avoided her because he was afraid of her. Like every other student in Shiz, he was terrified of her and thought she was outlandish. At least he had a reason. She shrugged and muttered, "Fine," before returning to her notes.
"Do you have a pencil? Mine's blunt."
Was this an attempt at a truce? Elphaba took a deep breath and wordlessly slid her own across the desk, staring at the textbook. She had gained the upper hand.
"Now you're ignoring me."
Gee, someone was perceptive this morning. Elphaba continued to make notes, oblivious to the conversation attempts made by Fiyero who had blatantly changed his mind. She cleared her throat and mumbled, "I'm trying to make notes. I suggest you do the same."
Fiyero scoffed. "You probably know more than your teacher."
"Knowledge never killed anyone," she replied tartly.
"Yet. Why take the chance, Elphie?"
She glared at him. "I despise nicknames."
Fiyero rolled his eyes. Evidently it was fine when Galinda gave her one. Elphie was too…he couldn't find the word, Glindaesque was it, he supposed. Elphie was far too Galindaesque a name to give to Elphaba. "How about I give you a really good one?"
"How about you get back to work?" Still, at least she was smiling while telling him to shut up. That was progress. Fiyero began to wonder when their positions had changed. What had happened between them?
Oh yes, she had decided to beat him at his own game. It would all end in tears and he was sure that they would be his. He bit his lip. If he didn't ask the question, he would never know the answer. Besides, he had a right to know. It had been bothering him all week.
"You remember when you went slightly mental?"
Elphaba finally put down her pencil and stared at him. "I beg your pardon?"
"Why didn't you try and do it to me?"
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry; I haven't a clue what you're talking about."
"You know," he hissed, gesturing elaborately with his hands. "The Lion Cub."
She nodded curtly. "Oh, you mean the day that you revealed yourself to be an idiot? I don't know what came over me. Perhaps I realised that I would need an idiot accomplice, who knows?"
He glowered. "I'm not an idiot."
She sighed. "Last week that was exactly the impression you wanted to give me. I'm becoming rather tired of your mood swings."
He rolled her pencil back to her. "The feeling is more than mutual."
"Well at least people don't feel smothered by my ego."
"No, they won't get close enough."
She recoiled and stared at the textbook, tossing her hair in her face. He wasn't sure what to do. When Galinda tossed, she flirted and showed him her neck. Irritated Elphaba's version did not have quite the same effect.
"Look, I'm sorry. That was out of line."
"Forget it." Her voice was weak and she refused to let him see her face. "Sorry means you don't do it again."
He frowned. "What have I done? I made an observation."
"About my complexion!"
"About your inability to let anyone care about you!" he hissed.
"Why did you apologise when you didn't even know why you were doing it?"
Fiyero slammed the book shut. "I don't know. You make me do things I don't understand every day. I just thought it was another one of those moments." He was saved by the bell and ran out of the room before Galinda could catch up with him. Instead, she stood beside Elphaba's desk.
"I don't know what's come over him lately. Do you think he's avoiding me? Is it my hair? I've changed my shampoo and-"
Elphaba shrugged and shoved her book into her already cramped bag. "He's doing it to everybody. I wouldn't worry too much." She didn't add that she was worrying enough for them both. One moment he hated her and the next she was making him do things that he didn't understand?
He never made sense. He was certainly an enigma, that boy. He was a contradiction in terms; a self absorbed, deeply shallow enigma.